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NORTHERN IRELAND CHRONICLE [Main Title]

Summary: Documentary chronicling the history of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland.

Description: The narrator comments that "news from Northern Ireland seems to be an endless stream of bombings etc but, for most people there, life goes on; they are more likely to be killed in a road accident than by a terrorist", adding the caveat that "the violence must be faced, and the reasons for it understood". There follows a montage of people and places: the village of Clorey, Co Londonderry, where 9 people were killed in a car bomb in July 1972 (grave of 8-year-old victim Kathryn Alexandra Eakin); a priest celebrating mass in Downpatrick, and a Presbyterian minister five miles away also at worship; aerial shots of Belfast with the Falls Road, Shankill Road and Ardoyne districts; aerial views of Londonderry; Orange march; horse fair at Auchnacloy; Crossmaglen, a town with a population of 1000 where 100 people have been killed; Pettigo, a village straddling the border with the Irish Republic. Two thirds of the Northern Irish population are Protestant, one third Catholic. The remainder of the film is devoted to a history of Ireland during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from the arrival of the first (Catholic) English settlers in 1600, briefly covering a number of topics, including the struggle for Home Rule in the nineteenth century, the 1916 Dublin Easter Rising, 1918 elections, the formation of the IRA and the terror campaign 1919-21, the Treaty of 1921 and the partitioning of Ireland. The events of the 1950s and 1960s are covered in more detail, including Terry O’Neill’s attempts at reform, and the unrest of 1969-1969 which led to the deployment of troops and the start of The Troubles, and the terror campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s.

Notes: Summary: produced by the Central Office of Information during the early 1980s, and is interesting as an "official" viewpoint of the Northern Ireland situation at a time when paramilitary groups were still very much active.